JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

As I mentioned in an earlier post, around this time every year we get visited by a hawk or two. This is one of them.

(Click on image to view large size)

Most people would think this is a no brainer. But if the surfers of California are anything like the ones on island, then I understand why the officials felt it necessary to post the notice. Every year local surfers await the typhoon season. And every year some of those die hards end up at hospitals with numerous gashes, and sometimes more serious injuries, from being tossed into the coral reef by unforgiving waves. When it comes to the call of the waves, common sense doesn’t always prevail.

For anyone who has ever worked in the service industry, you’ll get a good chuckle out of today’s (Oct 31) Ziggy. 😉

One giant step for pumpkin kind. Have A Happy Halloween.

(Be sure to check out all the photos on the construction of this amusingly amazing PC.)

Finally someone who got it, and thankfully her parents understand too. Not everything is about competition in the political sense. Good luck and have fun playing one of the most enjoyable games there is!!!

I’ve just added a new feature to the site, videos. Here is my first effort at videoblogging – a relaxing 2 minute break.

Or you can view the video with audio here.

I just read that Rosa Parks has moved on and will no longer grace the earth with her uncommon presence. If there ever was a person who inspired belief in the spirit of self-respect and respect for fellow human beings, it was she. Farewell and sweet dreams.

Although the Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japan in 1972, there are still some basics that provide a contrast in the two main islands. When I was in the Fussa area outside Tokyo in 1981, I saw my first Japanese 7-Eleven. Having lived only in the Okinawan Prefecture of Japan, I was very surprised to see the store. Here it is almost 25 years later and below is a listing of the addresses of the current 7-Elevens we have on island (that I know of):

You got it, a big fat zero!!! There has been an influx of large mainland Japanese companies on island over the past 5 to 10 years, but not one 7-Eleven! So it came quite the surprise to see this article in the news today.

These days so much seems to be going on all at once. And if a person only has time for a brief rundown of the news, one might think there’s nothing but negative events in our daily lives. Of all the online major news sources, I choose Yahoo News for having the easiest and most complete site. And even though the site is extremely thorough in providing a wide range of general topics and sources, what is lacking on that and other main sites is a category for the positive daily events. I ran across this smaller, somewhat biased (I think I would change the title of the “Unhappy News” category to “Standard News”), site that seems to understand the need for a balance in the human psyche.